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Bangladesh
Homeworkers Women Association (BHWA) has been
working with homebased workers in the country
since it's inception in 1986. Along with their
fight for worker rights issues, they also work
towards increased awareness and financial independence
for women homeworkers. A home worker's contribution
to the social and economic development of the
nation cannot be overlooked. Her hard work is
not given due recognition and value.
Homeworkers
are a neglected group in Bangladesh.
This
organization has seen a quantum increase in activities
and membership since the National Workshop in
January 2003. The theme of the workshop was to
devise a mechanism to frame a "National Policy"
for homebased workers. This workshop was the catalyst
that brought together most women homeworkers in
Bangladesh under one umbrella and gave them a
newfound unity and strength to fight for their
rights. Subsequently, in the course of their work
in advocacy, marketing and other fields, they
encountered a big stumbling block in the form
of ignorance and social apathy. One big hurdle
to their work is the lack of awareness in this
country on the contribution of homeworkers to
the national economy. This ignorance and apathy
has to be tackled before anyone can hope for any
favorable government initiatives. To help spread
awareness of their cause, they would need to use
all available media resources. One media that
is being widely exploited currently is the Internet.
This media has achieved tremendous popularity
& penetration in a very short time mainly
due to the ease of usage and the negligible cost
involved. The Internet has emerged as the preferred
source for all information seekers, outclassing
all the traditional information sources
such as print media, encyclopedias, directories
etc.
Keeping
in tune with the present environment, BHWA has
designed and developed a website for our organization
named "www.bhwa.org" (web design consultants
- DRIK Multimedia). This is just a small beginning
in their effort to place the woman homeworker
issue in the forefront of the minds of all policymakers
involved in developmental planning for our country.
The aim is to increase awareness and promote the
cause of the woman homeworker.
They
intend to highlight the various direct and indirect
contributions each woman homeworker makes to the
national economy and how she gets absolutely no
support from the state in return. According to
BHWA General Secretary, Ms. Dilruba Anguri, "We
hope the website will help us mobilize favorable
support for our cause from the general public
& society's leaders, both in our country and
abroad. All this would not have been possible
without the support and constant encouragement
received from our partner associations, the ITGLWF,
TWARO, HomeNet South Asia, etc. We hope all our
associates will support us in this endeavor and
look forward to their suggestions and opinions
in helping us further improve on our website".
The
website was formally inaugurated by Mr. Neil Kearney,
General Secretary, ITGLWF, Belgium. ITGLWF has
tirelessly campaigned on the national & international
stage for granting recognition to homeworkers.
They have always been an inspirational and guiding
force for BHWA and have on many occasions shown
them the right path forward. BHWA owes a lot to
their support and encouragement and hopes to continue
this close partnership in the future.
The
website has been simplistically designed in order
to emphasize on the text content. Monotony is
however wonderfully relieved by the pictures of
the exquisite handicraft creations of women homeworkers
in Bangladesh- Various aspects of the organization's
activities such as their philosophy, their main
focus-the woman homeworker, the marketing aspect,
their achievements, their international partners
etc. have been detailed in the numerous pages
on the site. All the information is presented
in an easily accessible manner with minimum frills.
Feedback and interaction with the reader is also
made easy with an online "Inquiry form"
which will forward reader queries to their office.
The product gallery is the most visually colorful
page and has to be seen. A click on this page
is definitely recommended, if not to order, then
to just admire the rich colors and varied handiwork
of women working under difficult and adverse conditions.
Ms.
Dilruba Anguri
General Secretary - BHWA
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